The interest in using of cells and other biologically active materials, such as therapeutics, to facilitate tissue regeneration has grown significantly. However, in some cases the removal of undesired body tissue, such as diseased or injured tissue, must precede this treatment. A typical method of removing injured or diseased tissue is to surgically excise that tissue. Surgical excision, however, does not adequately address the problem of encouraging new tissue to regenerate in place of the removed tissue. In certain cases, a gradual process of tissue removal and regeneration may be preferred over simply cutting the undesired body tissue away. For example, to minimize acute trauma, such a gradual process may be preferred in removing diseased brain tissue. In another example, surgically excising diseased cardiac tissue may be more traumatic than gradually removing the diseased cardiac tissue for replacement with new cardiac tissue.
Also, surgical removal of tissue and organ parts is not always the best treatment modality, because certain body tissues and organs are difficult to access. Certain body parts, for example, skin and certain organs such as liver are easily accessible during surgery. Surgically excising liver is a viable solution to removing as well as regenerating new tissue because the liver is one of the few body organs which will grow back spontaneously. Brain tissue, however, is not easily accessible, nor does it grow back spontaneously. Cardiac tissue is also difficult to surgically excise and treat without undue trauma because, normally, the heart is continuously beating. In addition, cardiac tissue does not regenerate on its own.
There is a need, therefore, to provide an alternative device and method that removes undesired body tissue, i.e., injured, diseased or unwanted body tissue, yet reduce acute surgical trauma and improve treatment accessibility to certain body tissues and organs. Moreover, there is a need for a device and method for achieving a gradual removal of injured and diseased tissue and furthermore, providing a means for facilitating, either concurrently or subsequently, other forms of treatment therapy on the body tissue in proximity to the undesired body tissue, for example, regeneration of the body tissue or preventing the proliferation of body tissue.